The present invention relates to vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) networks and more particularly to guided selection of video feeds (video data streams) for presentation on a display used by a participant in such networks.
Efforts have been underway for some time to establish standards for and to develop technology that would allow drivers within limited geographic areas to “talk” to each other by participating in ad hoc vehicle-to-vehicle networks in which audio, video and other data is shared among participating vehicles. It is envisioned that each vehicle participating in such a vehicle-to-vehicle network would be equipped with video cameras for capturing video data both for use within the participating vehicle and for sharing with other vehicles participating in the network as well as microphones for capturing audio data that could be shared directly with other vehicles independently of existing communications networks, such as cellular telephone networks.
According to one proposal, data would be shared among vehicles using a Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) wireless protocol operating in the 5.9 Gigahertz band that would support direct vehicle-to-vehicle communications over a relatively short range (100 meters-300 meters). The effective size of the network implemented using the DSRC would be significantly greater than the direct vehicle-to-vehicle maximum range, however, since each vehicle could relay data received from another vehicle to still other vehicles within its range. Relayed data could “hop” one vehicle at the time to vehicles progressively further away from the vehicle that was the source of the data.
Vehicle-to-vehicle networks will serve the general purpose of making participating drivers more aware of what is happening around them as well as a number of specific purposes, including safety-related purposes. Such networks would permit drivers to alert other drivers of traffic slowdowns, road hazards and approaching emergency vehicles. Such networks could also enable emergency vehicle personnel to alert drivers to their presence, letting alerted drivers anticipate the appearance of the emergency vehicles and more quickly clear paths for them.
While giving a participating driver the chance to select any of the many video feeds that may exist in a vehicle-to-vehicle network at any given time clearly can be useful to the participating driver, there is a concern that a driver will become distracted by having to select and then review each available video feed and that the distraction will give rise to risks that the vehicle-to-vehicle network was supposed to eliminate or reduce in the first place. There is a need to enable a driver to guide the selection of a desired video feed without necessarily reviewing every available video feed.